* CreativeDifferences: ** Surprisingly, the Nickelodeon executives actually were (knowingly) very hands-off with the creative process. Character deaths that were originally written were never allowed, though. ** According to Rikki Simons, this was more a problem between Vasquez and series director Steve Ressel than it was with any of the suits. Ressel wanted to go all-out with camera angles and cinematography while Vasquez wanted the gags to speak for themselves. * CreatorKiller: Series director Steve Ressel was not heard from in the animation industry again after stories of how difficult he was to work with during the show's production got out.* CrossDressingVoices:** In Mexico, Zim is voiced by a woman.** Outside of the Americas (Brazil, Mexico, USA); GIR is often voiced by a woman.** Zim, Dib and GIR are voiced by women in the Japanese dub** In "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom", Nightmare Bitters was voiced by ''Rodger Bumpass''.* DevelopmentHell: Any continuation. Nick has supposedly been confirming the availability of the cast and crew every six months continuously since the initial cancelation. An attempt circa 2010 got so far as to enter early stages of contract negotiations before falling through.* ExecutiveMeddling: Less than you'd expect for a {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} show created by the guy who did ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'', but there are a few:** Two specific incidents that make little sense, however: In the first episode, the writing staff changed radioactive rubber ants to rubber pants simply due to RuleOfFunny. In the words of Jhonen, "Suddenly we had a fight on our hands!" And in a later episode, they had to fight to keep a line in where a kid told his mom to have fun at work because Nickelodeon thought it was inappropriate to have that line. Why? Because it's about one in the morning, [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar leading some to conclude that the kid's mom was a prostitute.]]** Due the show's proximity to 9/11, some elements (firefighters watching the slow explosion from their fire truck in Walk For Your Lives, vision of destroyed New York in Door to Door) were [[TooSoon deemed too offensive to air]]. The explosion was turned green instead of orange, the firefighter gag was removed and a new "horrible future" vision (that was somehow more destructive than the original one) was produced for Door to Door. Jhonen Vasquez said he preferred the new vision to the old one, as it was more violent.** A moment in "GIR goes Crazy And Stuff" is particularly famous for subverting this and [[TakeThat what follows.]] An image of GIR dripping with blood was declined by the network and did not blatantly appear in the episode. The "Bloody GIR" became an EasterEgg in the series, hidden faintly into frames.** Nickelodeon objected to the original ending of "Walk of Doom," in which Zim and Gir were dropped off in a ghetto with a banner reading "Welcome To Mexico," feeling that [[UnfortunateImplications it come off as racist]]. Jhonen Vasquez, himself Mexican-American, agreed and it was changed to a vaguely Mexican-looking (but still filthy) town.** For the comics, Nickelodeon has handed over the rights to all the series' characters except, for some reason, Skoodge, meaning he won't be showing up for a while, if at all.* FanNickname: Until Issue 0 "Truth Shrieker" was released, Dib and Gaz did not not have an official last name, but many fans had taken to calling them "Dib and Gaz Membrane."** This is [[AscendedFanon made canon]] in the "Truth Shriekers" promotional comic, where Dib signs his name as "Dib Membrane."** The Membrane last name is concreted when Dib is referred to as "Dib Membrane" in Issue 5.** If that isn't enough evidence for you, Dib referred to ''himself'' as "Dib Membrane" in Issue 21.** In "Battle-Dib" he is seen signing the permission slip with this name. * FollowTheLeader: After Invader ZIM hit cult status and became immensely popular with the preteen demographic, many other animated TV shows started turning towards dark and random humor. ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'', ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', and ''WesternAnimation/MakingFiends'' are a few examples.* GodNeverSaidThat: Unfortunately, the phrase "[[WordOfGod Jhonen said]]" has been falsely appended to so many baseless rumors that unless there is an actual verifiable citation included you're far more likely to be reading something someone ''heard'' Jhonen said from someone else who who heard it and so on... following the GossipEvolution back to its source often leads only to the reveal of glorified {{fanon}} whose origin had been lost in the telling. According to (note the citation) [[http://www.questionsleep.com/mindspill/?p=1208 Jhonen on his blog]], even Wikipedia and IMDB have included errors by not sourcing, meaning you can't necessarily trust everything you read there too. While not every person who makes the claim to WordOfGod without citation is incorrect, you should adjust your credulity accordingly.** One of the most common assertions to fall under this clause is Zim being 16 in "Irken Years" and 150 or 159 in human years. WordOfGod on the age business is that Zim is [[http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=552&page=5 older than any human alive]], but {{fanon}}, perhaps not liking the [[PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize extreme age gap between the show's main protagonist and his chief rival]], invented the concept of "Irken Years" putting his "relative" age far closer to Dib's, and his real age closer to the lower bound of "older than any living human". Somewhere along the line this made the jump from {{fanon}} to false WordOfGod. You won't find any interviews or blog posts verifying this fact, although some user-edited information sites such as Wikipedia have listed it from time to time (entries inevitably being deleted due to the lack of citation).** The biggest example of a rumor gone wrong would have to be the once-common, entirely mistaken belief that Vasquez hated working on the show and would never return to it unless he was offered a huge amount of money. It's often attributed to the man himself, but it's more likely that it came from comments by [[http://www.buzzyworld.com/zim/archives/askstevearchives.html#103103 series director]] [[http://www.buzzyworld.com/zim/archives/askstevearchives.html#082803 Steve Ressel]], who has indeed made it clear that he would never return, as he had his own issues with the way things were run. Vasquez does often make disparaging remarks about ''Zim'', but the same way he does about ''everything''--[[JokingMode with his tongue superglued to the inside of his cheek.]] His continued associations with the show (through heavy involvement with the [=DVDs=], working on the comic series, and appearing at fan conventions) have done much to dispel the rumors, not to mention a blog post where he explicitly states that he loves the show and would be happy to work on it again.* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Tak, the Hideous New Girl is voiced by Olivia D'Abo, aka Karen Arnold from ''Series/TheWonderYears'', which also starred Andy Bearman (Dib) as Chuck Coleman.* LyingCreator: Sarcasm variant; compounding the GodNeverSaidThat issue where fans mistakenly attribute words to Creator/JhonenVasquez that he never actually said, Jhonen ''himself'' occasionally goes on record with information that's intended to be sardonic. For example, it's said in [[http://dvd.ign.com/articles/543/543764p3.html this interview]] that ultimately the plan had been for Zim to get a HeelFaceTurn... and become a lawyer:-->Ultimately, my idea was to take his sights off world domination, as ZIM begins to understand that there is a beauty in human life, an understanding that sets him on his path to becoming a public legal defender. I was very inspired by Ben Affleck's powerful courtroom scenes in ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'', and I wanted to move people to tears like those scenes moved me. But the show was canceled before any of that, thus leaving our audience of ten unfulfilled.** If that is not ridiculous enough on its face to give away the game, the ''Daredevil'' film came out in 2003, a year after the show's cancellation, meaning the quote literally cannot be true, and "moved to tears like those scenes moved me" is almost certainly meant as a StealthInsult. See also TheWalrusWasPaul.** A shining example of this is the [[http://www.questionsleep.com/?tag=invader-zim-fact "INVADER ZIM Facts" series of posts on his blog]], which typically include a small kernel of something that might be true, but quickly spiral into obviously false stories involving violence and death, leaving the reader wondering if even that small kernel was genuine.* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Gaz is arguably the meanest, most misanthropic character on the show. Her actress, Melissa Fahn, can be heard defending some her cuter moments on the DVDCommentary.* TheMerch: An insane amount of it available at [[MisaimedMarketing Hot Topic]]. Note that a good 95% of it will be focused on [[EnsembleDarkhorse GIR]].* NamesTheSame: This Gaz is not the same one from VideoGame/CallOfDuty4.* NoExportForYou: The [=DVDs=] have never been given a Region 2 release.* OrwellianEditor: The commentary tracks only ever acknowledge director Steve Ressel's CreatorCameo[=s=] as "Joe the janitor", if at all, due to his feud with the writers and suits alike.* TheOtherDarrin: Creator/BillyWest voiced Zim in the pilot and was originally meant to voice him in the rest of the series, but WordOfGod felt he needed to be replaced since the VA already voiced the [[{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}} main character of another science fiction show at the time.]] Creator/RichardStevenHorvitz filled in the spot instead.* PlayingAgainstType: Melissa Fahn, who plays Gaz, primarily works in anime dubs, making ''Zim'' not only one of her few American shows but one of the few in which she recorded her voice before animation.* ProductionPosse: Vazquez more or less hiring all his comic book author friends to do the show with him doesn't ''strictly'' qualify, but Rikki Simons (voice of GIR and color artist for the show) had previously done the color for ''ComicBook/IFeelSick''. * ScrewedByTheNetwork: Maybe not as bad as certain other Nick shows, but still a factor. The show was constantly jumbled all over the schedule so that nobody ever knew when it was on, and new episodes were premiered at timeslots like 9:15 pm. However, while the suits didn't always understand exactly what he was doing, they gave him an awful lot of leeway, and Vasquez himself would later admit that given complete creative control the only thing that might change was that extras would explode at random.* TalkingToHimself: Dib and Dibship.* ThrowItIn:** The first episode contains the line "Invader's blood marches through my veins like giant, radioactive rubber pants!" The line was supposed to say "ants". But it's the kind of show where "pants" actually fits better.** One scene in "Hamstergeddon" called for Ultra Peepi stomping down the street towards some tanks. It came back from animation with him walking with an odd sort of swagger, which Jhonen found so hysterical that he told Kevin Manthi to put a funk score under it, saying "I want to hear Music/BarryWhite saying 'Ultra Peepi!'"** Another instance of one of Zim's fubbed lines being kept in the show: in 'Bad, Bad, Rubber Piggy' Zim says the phrase "temporal doom." It's technically supposed to be pronounced temp-er-al, but on every take Horvitz would only say temp-ohr-uhl. After a few takes they realized they wouldn't be able to get him to say it correctly, so they kept the line in.** Those coughing fits Gir has when he drinks something is Rikki Simons having a mild asthma attack from having to make slurping noises.* TrollingCreator: Vasquez has a habit of posting things on his Twitter like "Good news for Zim fans! I just ate a delicious burrito. Also, Zim is still cancelled forever." Reached its apex in 2017, where he denied rumors that the series would be getting a movie... ''literally hours before Nickelodeon released the trailer''.* UnfinishedEpisode: Twenty-one planned episodes of the second season were unfinished at the time of its cancellation. Of these, seven were far enough along in production to have audio and storyboards included in the Zim's House Box Set DVD release (but not, ironically, in the so-called "Complete Invasion" Box Set).* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ** Wally Wingert was originally cast as Almighty Tallest Purple but was recast as Red when Kevin [=McDonald=] became available.** Before pitching the ''Zim'' idea, Jhonen Vasquez and Nickelodeon toyed with adapting his comic ''Squee'', but quickly decided that, while it ''starred'' a child, it [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids was definitely not child-friendly]]. Jhonen was also reluctant to adapt his previous work, fearing it might ruin the comic's integrity if it turned out badly.** The show's aesthetic was originally more of a 1950s b-movie spoof. It barely got to development before Jhonen realized that he hated doing something that predictable.** Danielle Koenig's original script for "Vindicated" had Dwicky genuinely believing Dib. She refers to the change as Jhonen having "mangled" it, but she didn't sound as annoyed about it as her word choice might lead one to believe.** It's claimed in the commentary that the original ending of "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy" was Dib dying and being replaced by a character named "Louie" as Zim's new rival. This may have just been a joke, however.** Another commentary tidbit is that Iggins was originally slated to die at the end of "Game Slave 2," but ExecutiveMeddling prevented that.** In a [[http://www.questionsleep.com/mindspill/?p=1742 blog post]] Jhonen noted the original script for "Gaz: Taster of Pork" simply ended with Dib defeating the Porklord and then sharing pizza with Gaz. Eric Truehart came up with the ending we got instead.** Creator/MarkHamill was originally considered for the role of Zim, but was dismissed by Nickelodeon for sounding too old.*** Billy West was also considered, and his voice is Zim's in the original pilot, available on Youtube. However, with Futurama already on the air, Jhonen didn't want West's voice in two sci-fi shows at the same time, citing it to be too recognizable across both shows.** Skoodge's SIR unit would have appeared in a cancelled episode. Its name was CHIPZ.** [[WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}} Tommy Pickles]] was going to be one of the Nhar-Gh'ok. [[ExecutiveMeddling Nickelodeon did not approve.]]** The two aliens in "Abducted" were going to be voiced by [[Creator/MontyPython Terry Jones and Eric Idle]], but scheduling conflicts prevented it.** After its cancelation, Creator/AdultSwim offered to [[ChannelHop pick up the production]], which might have led to a huge revival in the same vein as ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', but Nick refused to sign over the rights.** Issue 5 of the comic was originally going to be about Zim trapping Dib in a video game simulation, but Jhonen felt that it was too similar to "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom".** According to [[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9eKOqh-E5WPa3hLTGFiS0MzS0k/view?pref=2&pli=1 the show's original pitch bible]], the show was intended to be in a format similar to ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'', and ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'', with short interludes appearing inbetween episodes.* TheWikiRule: [[http://zim.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Here ya go!]]* WordOfGod: According to Jhonen Vasquez, Dib and his family aren't caucasians, but very pale Mexicans. He also claims (perhaps jokingly) that Dib and Gaz's names are short for Dibble and [[PunnyName Gazleen]].* WordOfStPaul: Rikki Simons has basically made a secondary career of talking about his experiendes with the show on the convention circuit, so much of the behind the scenes information comes from him.----